Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Triathlon Whirlwind

Apparently triathlon season is upon us.  And I'm frightened. 

I haven't actually committed to doing one specific triathlon, but I know I'm going to.

Here are my fears (I'm SO optimistic, ha!) in order from least to most worrisome.

5. Swimming.  The swim is usually pretty short in a sprint triathlon.  Nothing I can't handle.  I just wish there was more of it!

4. "Nutrition".  I'm got some Gus and Shot blocks for eating and I got some Nuun and Camelbak Elixir for drinking.  Shouldn't be too hard to down one or two on the go.  Just don't want to overdo it and certainly don't want to under do it.

3.  Running.  My max right now is probably a half hour at a steady pace.  That is not a 5K, for me, and certainly won't be after swimming and biking.  I'm already dreading that "Brick" feeling!  I know I'll be slow, but I also know I can get it done.

2.  Biking.  I may have gotten my bike 10 days ago, but today was the first time I rode it!!!  Not for lack of wanting.  As I said last week, I had to order pedals.  But when I went to put the pedals on (aka asked Coach to put them on) he discovered that my back tire was flat.  Oh hell to the no!!!  I was able to take it to the bike shop today and they put in a new tube in it and aired up my tires.  I took it upon myself to buy about $126 worth of stuff today, but I used my rewards points and only spent $28 :) (and I still need more stuff - cycling, why are you so expensive?!?)  I only rode around the apt complex today, but I conquered a long, but steady hill (as hilly as it gets around here).  SwimTot was freaking adorable and ran along side me.  Love that kid.  Couldn't get my left foot in the toe cage :( And I almost crashed because I had to turn sharply to avoid SwimTot (that whole knowing your left from right thing would be a good thing to teach in preschool!) and my foot, while in the toe cage/on the pedal hit the wheel.  I was going DOWN!  I got my foot loose just in time.  Looking forward to getting a real ride in with some hills to see if I can really conquer the distance of a sprint tri!

1. Clothing.  Oh em geeeeeeee.  WHAT TO WEAR?!?  I ordered a 1 piece tri suit, XXL, too small.  I ordered several tri suit seperates, XXL, all too small.  Effffff.....  I've been online shopping like a mofo (haha haven't used "like a mofo" in such a long time!).  For this first tri, my best bet might be to swim in a swim suit with a tri sports bra underneath and throw on a shirt and bike shorts in T1 and stay the same during T2.  But I have to (would like to!) find some bike shorts.  I may end up going with some mens sizes if I can't fit in any women's sizes.  Lord, when I started this journey, did I ever think that instead of dreaming about fitting into LBDs I would dream about fitting into Triathlon suits?!?

Triathlons:  A whirlwind, indeed.

There is a tri at YMCA C, my fave, on May 18 and most of my tri buddies are doing it.  We'll see if I sign up or volunteer.  Looking past that, I think that doing a women's only race would be fun.  Half the reason is the name...they're always something fun.  Most tris around here are [Insert name of town] Triathlon.  Who wants a medal that says that?  Ok, I would take it if I earned it! :)

We will see how these matters unfold in the coming weeks!  All I know is I have to have a pretty low ego because after the swim, I will get passed like crazy!  My ears will be ringing with all the "on your left!"s I hear.  Which is okay as long as I do my own thing!


What would be your biggest "fear" in a triathlon?

 Are there any fitness issues making your head spin this week?

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Exercise stuff.

I've fallen behind in my SBBC Recaps, so here is a general idea of what I did the past 2 weeks:

Monday:  Swim, prob an hour, beginner spin, 30 mins
Tuesday:  Yoga
Wednesday:  Full hour of spinning (tired!).  Instructor played dixie chicks songs and "devil went down to Georgia" and kept hitting "skip" when Rihanna came on.  Made me laugh.
Thursday:  Swam at "YMCA A".  Swam for over an hour and got annoyed because I kept getting kicked out of lanes so they could have swim lessons.  I eventually ended up in a lane (first and last lanes) with an attractive man with the most piercing blue eyes.  Lord have mercy!  He was taking a break when I was done swimming and we conversed a sentence or two.  However, water aerobics was going on about 5 feet from us...and who was the water aerobics queen that was the closest to us?  SwimSis!  No way, no how I am flirting with my "little" sister standing right there.  I'll just dream about his dreamy eyes for now.
Friday:  Rest
Saturday: 1 hr Pilates, 42 mins run/walk at the Y.
Sunday:  Rest

Monday:  I had a choice from my doctor's appt the Friday before.  I needed to give a fasting blood sample(s).  I could either go downtown in the morning to do it (hassle+time off work) or wait until afternoon when they were at the location across the street (much longer wait).  I chose to wait until the afternoon so I could go on my lunch hour...at 1pm.  It is about a 12 hour window of fasting that needs to happen.  So I ate "Breakfast" around midnight on Sunday night!  It was so weird going through my work day and not getting my breakfast or snacks or anything.  Just missing the ritual.  My tummy was growling around noon, but as 1pm rolled around, it was fine.  The blood draw was over quickly (still don't have results, they're quite slow) and I went back and ate a salad for lunch and might have had an apple on the way to swim.  This turned out to be a bad choice.  I felt so tired, drained and defeated all afternoon.  I didn't want to go swim, I just wanted to lay down and sleep.  I know some of it was the messed up schedule, but some was just this point in the challenge.  I just needed to take it easy.  Instead of swimming+spinning, I just swam.  And I did no more than I was asked.  And it felt good.
Tuesday:  1 hour of yoga.  Had lunch with a friend.  She is apparently allergic to down.  So she gifted me the most fluffy down comforter.  I'm snuggled in it right now :)  LOVE!

This is what I did at 5am when I couldn't sleep...selfies, Lord!


Wednesday:  30 min spin, 30 min run BRICK workout, people!  The spin felt okay, but my knees were hurting again.  As we started running, I had to chuckle to myself.  I knew that I couldn't keep that pace for long and quickly fell behind the group.  It wasn't surprising to me, so I just kept running and Tri Coach Jeff came back and ran with me for a minute or two.  He said something like "Keep at a pace you can maintain" I said something smart like "Wasn't planning on going any faster!".  I don't think he gets my humor.  :)  It was gorgeous out and a storm had just passed so it was sunny and breezy.  I ran the first mile and juuuust as I was about to take a walk break, who came to run with me but Tri Coach Jeff.  Aargh, so i ran a little bit longer until I told him I was walking!  We rounded a bend and the faster people were coming back our way, so we turned around.  I got to talk to a new member of our little Tri club, which was nice.  When we started running again I probably ran another half mile by myself.  When I was getting ready to take a walk break, who came back to run with me?  Yes, friends, Tri Coach Jeff.  He has terrible timing.  I walked for a min or two and then we ran it in.  It felt good to do a Brick workout and my legs didn't feel trashed, but my knees were quite sore*.

Sweaty, post-Brick mess!

Silly, but pumped about the Brick workout.


Thursday:  Rained most of the day, but was clear between 5-6pm.  I rushed to get to my running spot and the clouds were darkening on my way there.  I pulled in, parked and....DOWNPOUR.  Barf.  If I was already running I would have stayed out, but I wasn't so I just called it a rest day and went home.

The weather being a jerk.


Friday:  Swapped this normal rest day for some swimming at YMCA C.  I did a variation of this workout.  It was pretty glorious.  I did the lower yardage one with a 300 for warm up (instead of 200) and 500 pull at the end to work on getting my guns in shape for a wedding this fall.  I felt fantastic.
Saturday: 40 mins Pilates (left early to go babysit), 1 hour heated slow flow yoga.  Nice and sweaty!  I then hit up Charming Charlie for some cute accessories

I bought "bowtie" earrings in place of my lost "Bowties are cool" keychain! PS Ears are weird.

and then went to the bike shop!  The manager was not there and I was unlucky and got the newbie.  I found a bike I really liked and I bought it!  Here it is:

My relatives were all asking for a bike pic!



Notice anything missing?  To be somewhat fair to him, I did bombard him with more questions than he knew what to do with, but at some point I asked him what kind of pedals came on the bike.  He said he didn't know, but he would check.  I bought the bike and bike rack (PS of course I had a spoiler on my car, so I had to get a more expensive bike rack, boo!).  He put the bike rack on and mechanic brought out the bike.  He put the bike on and I said "Sooo....no pedals?!?" He brushed it off like "oh, I guess not, sorry, You can come back and buy them with your rewards points".  Clearly he wanted shanked.  Luckily, I was fresh out of shanks.  But it was 3:30pm and I had last eaten at 9:30am, I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep the night before, and I was just READY to go home.  So I took the bike home and sat it in my house, where it is still sitting today.  I am going to a Tri Night at a different bike shop this week, so I will see how their prices/products compare.  (already nervous about meeting new people!).

Ah, what a week.  Got my tax return on Friday and spent it all (plus $12 more) on Saturday.  Just like any red blooded American! LOL  But really I am having a bit of a freak out like "Oh crap, I just bought a bike, now I have to ride it!" Much like my feelings when I joined the YMCA!

*Yesterday in beginner spin, I paid special attention to keep my feet level and push the pedals with my heels.  I think I was having a tendency to point my toes at the bottom of my...what do you cycling people call it...rotation, circle, where my foot is closest to the ground.  Today I had almost no aching in my knees, so I will call it a success and make sure I am keeping with the proper cycling form!

Do you normally spend your tax return (assuming you get one) on something big?  I normally just bank it.  Last year I had mine for probably 6 months before buying my car.

Any conversation points I should bring up when talking to other Tri athletes at the preparing for a tri event?   Please help!  I would much rather ask questions and have people talk to me than for them to ask me questions.  People generally aren't as interested in conversation where I use nondescript words like "things, stuff, whatchmacallit".

PS Actually got done up a friend's bday party...get it girl!!!

I should clean my mirror.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Hem and Haw

Is that the right phrase?  I guess Blogger isn't the place to display my lack of knowledge of the English language.

Some things that are on my mind:

-I bought myself a little something for the 50lbs lost achievement.  It was just something little and silly.  A keychain with a doctor who saying on it ("Bowties are cool").  I got it on Friday, put it on my carabiner Saturday, and then found that it was missing this morning.  Efffffffff.....

-While at the church on Sunday, one of the pastors was taking some pics for the FB page.  Usually he just gets the kids, but the teachers were demo-ing a game.  I am in the background, and it is a fuzzy iphone pic, and I am wearing my generic spanx, but I was pretty happy with the pic!  Here it is:

I mean, other than my awkward posture and pants that never fit right, I like it.

-Last week's weight:  235.6
This week's weight:  234.4
Nice!

-I went to the doctor last Friday for a primary care visit.  One of his questions was "Have you ever been in an abusive relationship?"  I said "no".  He followed up "Do you know the signs of an abusive relationship?" I said "Well I should hope so!".  And that launched him into a 10 minute lecture/question session about domestic violence, how it starts, and when to know to get out.  Glad he is concerned?

-  My blood pressure was good, my weight was down from my last visit (7lbs in 2 mos, I think).  He asked me what my plan was to lose weight.  Not if I was trying or anything :)  I told him I am working out 5 days a week and eating better and that I used to weight 290.  He was very happy with that encouraged me to continue. 

-I don't have a lot of weight loss comparison pictures.  Mostly because no one knows I have a blog, so I don't really ask people to take pictures of me for it.  But I do wear this one tank top on the regular to workout.  Sorry that I don't know how to make them side by side, but I hope you can see the difference!  The top one was in June, and the bottom was over Easter.







-My knees have been aching lately.  Trying to find a cause hasn't been very successful.  Boo.  But I did an epsom salt bath today after my BRICK spin/run with Tri fit and then put bengay on them too.

-Still looking to get a bike.  Might ride more this weekend, but Tri Coach Jeff said he might be able to go with me next week.  Trying to decide whether to be independent and get it on my own, or wait for his expert opinion. 


-My pants no longer fit.  But if you have a shape like me, pants that fit well are hard to find.  I have momentary given up on pants and am wearing a lot more dresses/skirts.  I feel more feminine, too.

-This week is a clothes drive for a charity that gives women in need clothes to interview/go to work in if they cannot afford it.  I'm hoping to give a couple pairs of pants along with a suit jacket and skirt.  So glad that they are too big!

-Seriously, I cannot get enough of my lovely niece!  Yesterday I was hoping to blog, but she came to me and asked if we could watch Doctor Who together.  Who am I to deny this sweet face???



Thursday, April 11, 2013

SBBC Week 5

Monday:  I wanted to keep with my plan on swimming then beginner spin class just to get the feel for it.  I swam for 65 minutes and then did 35 mins of spin class.  Oh, but there's more!  Tri Coach Jeff said I should run too.  Oy.  So I did.  I only went 15 mins on the treadmill, but I ran.  I hope he's happy! (Insert fake mad face here).  But then...I was STARVING.  Like "my stomach will eat itself before I can make the 20 minute drive home" kind of hungry.  I was going to stop at Subway, but they closed right as I drove up (rude!).  There was an Arby's right next to it, so I stopped and got:  1 side salad with ranch, 1 kid's meal (jr. roast beef sandwich, apple slices, chocolate milk).  The milk was gone in 4 or less swigs and the salad was devoured in the parking lot!  I nixed half the bread from the sandwich, because, if we're being honest, on a "jr" sandwich, there is way to little meat to justify all that bread!  And the apple slices were heavenly.  It left me feeling the exact right amount of full and satisfied.  But at $6.09, I decided it is best to prepare my own food in the future!

Tuesday:  Had a few hours to take off of work, so I went to a mid- morning make up Pilates class (yay alliteration!) that I had missed due to being gone over Easter.  It was weird being in that same class room with different people at a different time of day.  But I survived (and then had Chipotle, yum, but ugh!).  After work I went to yoga.  The instructor cracks me up and I figured out why.  She has ADD moments.  She'll be all serious, then a pause, then "what is that on the ceiling???". haha!  I felt pretty tired after this 2 workout day, but it was a good feeling.


Tasty, but gross looking breakfast smoothie

Wednesday:  I had to work at the church after work, so I couldn't go to Trifit.  I did have a little time, so I did a 25 min trail run at my favorite nature preserve. I was fighting a cold, so it felt pretty hard on my lungs! Even though it is April, a very few number of naturey things had started turning from winter brown to spring green.  Meh.  At least I got to have Froyo for dinner!


Meh.

Yum.

Thursday:  I was going to run my usual greenway route, but my friend wanted to meet for dinner at our favorite place.  How could I say no?  I had bad decision incident that afternoon where I was upset that I had to run a birthday card to a co-worker at another location.  The boss said she HAD to get it on her birthday.  So I was feeling like I had "earned" a treat.  So I stopped at the McD's that's across the street from work.  I was going to order one apple pie, but they're 2 for a dollar.  No big deal, I would put in the fridge.  Oh, and would I like anything to drink?  Yeah, a large coke.  Who the eff am I???  Of course, I shoved both pies and the large coke into my pie hole.  I ordered dinner with my friend, but took the majority of it home.  After dinner, I went straight to the YMCA and hopped on the dreaded treadmill.  It really wasn't that bad.  I walked for 5 mins, ran for 15 mins, took a walk break, ran for 5 mins, another walk break, ran for 6 mins and cooled down.  Total of 40 mins.  The girl next to me, might have been 75-100lbs lighter than me, but I was running longer than she was :)  Made me happy, but I'm sure she was running faster, at least. 


First time I wore this shirt.  V-neck only good for running.  Anything else is too much cleavage!

Friday:  I worked and then went straight to babysit.  Got to hang out with some cute kiddos.  The mom text me the next morning and called me the "baby whisperer" because the 5 m/o girl slept for 11 hours that night!  Perhaps I should raise my prices, lol!  I had a hard time not shoving a million things in my face when babysitting & at home afterwards.
I was more excited than she was, clearly.

Leftover cajun food.  Nom nom nom. (look away my lo carb friends!)

Friday eats:  salmon patty w/ranch.  Veggies galore.

Oh deliciousness!


Saturday:  Saturday morning Pilates, obviously!  I went to work for a couple of hours, then I went to a bike shop.  Not gonna lie, it's totally like looking for a car in the sense of I had no idea what I was doing.  Luckily, the first place I went was soooooo great.  The sales guy was very understanding of my beginner level knowledge.  I rode a couple of bikes around, but knew I wasn't going to make any purchases.  I went to the Y to swim in my fave pool.  It was such a great swim!  Sun was shining in, temp was just right, and at one point, I was the only one in the lap pool for about 20 minutes. That afternoon, I went to 4 more places looking for bikes and might have found the place I will buy from.  I rode bikes for about 20 mins total that day.  Then I watched the new Doctor Who episode with SwimTot :)

Sunday:  Worked at the church!  I was super tired, so I just went home, took a nap and did my taxes so I can actually afford to buy a road bike!  But then I also got a bit of cold feet.  That is such a large amount of money!

SBBC score: 43.3 - amazing!  Highest week yet!!!  I believe the phrase is "like a boss" hehe
Veggies: 4
Water: 5
Weekly weigh in:
Last week:  236.6
This week:  235.6

I was a little hardcore (for me) in the workouts this week, so a pound is good. Probably would have been more if I had had a better week in terms of food!

What has been your best workout week?

Any suggestions on road bike models?

Tell me any "like a boss" moments, I love to hear them! 

Monday, April 8, 2013

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it. If you live. -Mark Twain

Ah, that Mark Twain.  He was a clever one, wasn't he?
I have a dilemna and I don't know what to do, so pardon me for a little bit of blog to process my thoughts.
Here are the facts:
I joined a triathlon training group. 
I liked that they were swimming in my favorite pool.
I liked that I didn’t have to look up my own workouts.
I like that I have a coach to tell me what to do.
I do like being pushed out of my comfort zone.
I like exiting my comfort zone at my own speed.
If I were to exit my comfort zone at my own speed, I would probably have dropped out of college almost 10 years ago. 
I am usually pushed out of my comfort zone at a rapid pace, with little warning.
I can adapt to change relatively well.
Often times, the things I don’t necessarily want to do are things that I should do.
My coach wants me to do a triathlon that most of my teammates are doing.
That tri is in 5 weeks.
I am very, very new to biking.
The tri has a bike course that is 2 loops.
The only thing worse than walking my bike up a hill in a triathlon would be walking it up the same hill, twice.
If I am going to do this triathlon, I have to get a bike ASAP.
Shopping for bikes is like shopping for cars. 
That means I don’t know what the heck I am doing.
I did visit 5 places looking for bikes on Saturday.
I rode bikes at 3 places.
I am considering buying from 2 of those 3 options.
I am probably going to spend about half of what I got my car for.
(I bought my car for cheap on Craigslist!)
Still, that is a heck of a lot of money to spend on a bike. 
Am I going to ride enough to warrant the cost of the bike?
I guess that is the real question. 
That and (please forgive me, I rarely use this self-depricating language!!!) "Can I get my fat ass up this hill while on the bike?"

In other news:  Candy crept back in my life this week.  I lost a pound too, but only because I had 433 mins of exercise.  I need to kick candy back to the curb!  Apparently I had bought candy for Easter for my family and I thought I had given it to SwimSis to put in Easter baskets, but I found it in the back of my closet.  Oy. 


Some soul candy.  Love this sweet girl!  She jumped off her bed and onto my back like this :)


Monday, April 1, 2013

SBBC Week 4

Monday: We had 9 inches of snow.  My work got a 2 hour delay.  I reset my alarm for 8:30, but woke up at 6:30am anyway.  Argh.  I had Bruno Mar’s “Lazy Song” floating through my head.  Did not want to go to work!  But I knew that I did not want to stay at home and do nothing.  Life is an adventure, if nothing else, so why not head out into this crazy, late March snow? More unappealing was going to the Y after work, but I did not give myself a choice.  I had swimming on schedule, then I decided to try a beginner spin class (at the urging of my Tri coach Jeff).  I had to miss Wednesday’s workout, which was an hour spin class.  So he told me I REALLY needed to go to a spin class this week. I had never done a spin class before (and had only been on a spin bike during my indoor tri).  I was nervous, but the instructor from the indoor tri was the same instructor as this beginner class.  There were only 4 of us in there, so she was able to ride with us on the floor (instead of the elevated bike up front).  1 word:  ouch.  I thought my legs might collapse under me.  I’ll admit, my legs are weenies.  And I also can do a physical activity at a consistent pace for quite a while (swimming, running).  But you mix up the tempo and do all these different standing/sitting things?  My heart rate got elevated more quickly than it does any other time!  In the end, here were my numbers for the day: 65 mins swimming, 35 mins beginner spin class


My latest dinner obbsession...eggs, spinach and salsa.

Tuesday:  I made it to yoga at work, after work.  It is in the most used conference room we have, which creeps me out a little (I like a clean floor even though I am on a mat!).  I had missed last week due to SwimSis’ birthday.  Apparently they picked Sanskrit “names” out of a bowl and those were their names.  I didn’t know if I was supposed to go through and choose one that I liked or pick one at random, so I chose one at random.  The name:  Aparajita which means “unconquered”. 
Immediate thoughts:
1.       Whaaaaat?  I thought these were supposed to be motivational?
2.       *That’s what she said!*
3.       Huh, okay.  I guess this can be kind of cool.
Not that life or a fitness/weight loss journey can have an end and be “conquered”, but I do like the imagery I have of working my way up a mountain. 
Everyone else had really awesome names, so I am just going along with it :)  It was an hour of yoga for me!
Wednesday:  I had my board meeting and I usually go home and don’t do anything.  It was so nice out, so I did a loop around the adjacent neighborhood once again.  And a minute faster than last time too:  41 minute walk.  Very proud that I got some activity in.


Last week w/long hair!

Thursday:  I did my usual Thursday run (walk/run).  I did the same route at 2 weeks ago.  I went farther and finished faster than last time!  51 mins in total, 35 mins of running.  I went to the bridge that I had previously not gone over, and I huffed and puffed my way over, went a ways, and huffed and puffed my way back!  Felt good to see progress, and I was super excited for my Epsom salt bath, book, etc.

Post-run.  Yay!

View from my parking spot, the main trail runs along the horizon

Post run reward: Book, OJ, and Neti Pot (I have a cold)
Saturday:  I was in the hometown for Easter.  I got my hair chopped off! Eek!  I donated to Locks of Love.  I have to say, it is shorter than I wanted it, but it was this length for several years before, so it’s not that drastic of a change for me.  Sidenote:  Small towns make me happy.  Left my dad’s house, got my hair cut, went grocery shopping and was home in under an hour.  Sooo nice!  But then I was bored for much of the day.  Everyone else went out to put the finishing touches on their Easter outfits (mine was already complete!) and I decided to do a little bit of Just Dance 4.  Before, it has been hard for me to jump around so much, for very long (add to that that I’m pretty uncoordinated).  I want to go for 15 mins, then it seemed easier and I did as many songs as I liked, which ended up being 50 minutes.  I was thrilled!  Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca was my favorite.  Just really fun and funny dance moves. 

New 'do.  In TeenSwimSis' bedroom, if you didn't garner that from the JB calender.

Sunday: Mostly a rest day, but while we were waiting for the ham to finish, I challenged TeenSwimSis to a duel!  I think it was only like 5 mins of dancing to Just Dance 4, but it was just enough to show TeenSwimSis that she isn’t the champ!

The girls!  TeenSwimSis, my grandma, my aunt, SwimTot, SwimSis, and Squinty McGee (me).
Total:  30.7
Water: 4
Freggies: 5

Weigh In:
Last week: 239.6
This week:  236.8

Was not expecting that, but I was excited for a big drop!

Do big drops in weight freak you out?  I usually do something to screw it up the next week, if we are being honest.

Did you try any new activities this week?  I was happy I took the plunge with spin class!